Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Music First Audio pre amplifier passive?

Although it’s passive (in that our pre amplifier needs no power supply), it uses a very different approach to conventional passive pre amps. By using transformers our design offers all the advantages of a passive: no noise, no colouration, no distortion, no reliance on the quality of the power, but without any of the disadvantages sometimes associated with traditional passive pre-amplification: poor impedance matching, loss of dynamics, constrained frequency response and a need to take care when matching components and interconnects.

Does it convert balanced and unbalanced signals?

Yes, because our pre amplifiers are transformer based they convert signals from unbalanced to balanced and visa versa. So, you can connect an unbalanced source and get a true transformer balanced signal from the XLR output of the pre amplifier. Equally, any balanced sources connected to the pre amplifier will be unbalanced at the RCA output. This is a tremendously flexible advantage from the Music First Audio unit.

Will it work with my power amplifier?

Because our preamplifier is transformer based, it doesn’t suffer any of the incompatibility issues sometimes associated with passive designs. We have customers using small output valve power amplifiers, very powerful solid state designs and everything in between, even active loudspeakers and all with excellent results. If you have any questions about a specific amplifier, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Can I use longer interconnects?

Yes, absolutely. Again, because our preamplifier is transformer based it doesn’t suffer the impedance matching issues that sometimes cause problems with longer cable lengths. Indeed, we have many customers using our preamplifier with active loudspeakers and cable runs of 10 meters with no problem. If you have any questions about cable lengths, please don’t hesitate to contact us.